Magic Trick
by StarsOfYaoi
Summary: *hints of GerIta, crack, fluffiness* Britannia Angel manages to turn Italy into Chibitalia in an attempt to make him more manageable. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**SOY:** this is the first chapter of a short fic that I hope you will like. I've worked on it for a long while, despite the very short chapters, and I hope you will be pleased reading it. ^^ The chapters for this one will be updated every two to three days.

Later on more characters will appear, including the entire Allied Powers.

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Rating**: K+.

**Warnings:** mostly fluffiness, some hints at GerIta, some crack.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Hetalia.

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Magic Trick**

**Chapter 01**

England had observed the Axis powers training for a bit, hiding behind a conveniently placed bush near the house of Germany, and after what felt like hours, he was bored.

Not of watching them, of course –they were strangely entertaining in their own ways… with the German man spouting orders all the time, growing flustered with every attempt at physical contact the Italian Nation made, Italy running away as soon as things got problematic, and Japan reserving himself some time to pet a stray cat…

But England was bored, because there was nothing for him to do, and his fingers were itching to do something…

Especially regarding Italy.

He was familiar with how annoying someone that bright, cheerful and idiotic could be… after all, he was allied with America, of all people… he should _know_. So he could sympathize with poor Germany (despite them being enemies, of course! You could never forget which side you were on during a war, right?), and feel a vague sense of pity for him.

Italy was… just like America.

Talking all the time, mostly nonsense, clinging at Germany's arms, neck, on his back, at his legs… hugging and even demanding kisses (England had a sudden mental image of America asking kisses from him and promptly flushed crimson, denying any implication to himself and blaming it on the heat. Yes, the _heat_), demanding pasta…

The last drop was, of course, when time ticked three o' clock –with an elegant twirl, Italy spun in midair, getting undressed in the blink of an eye, and then rolled into a makeshift bed, calling out with his lazy, soft tone something that to England's ears sounded like "siesta~!"

No, England couldn't stand that anymore. Italy being allowed to act like that in the middle of a war, and Germany allowing him to be touchy–feeling (when England couldn't even hint at America for that, and– no, that was not the point! It was not jealously! Not at all!), it was wrong. England knew he had to do something… anything, to change the situation.

It had nothing to do with revenge over how close those three were, while the Allies could only fight and hiss at each other, or how America kept poking fun at England… not that he wanted anything different from the git.

The Axis were enemies, and this was just a disrupting action! Yes! Nothing more than that!

He'd have to do something. Well, not really him, per se. Someone else would, of course…

…–…–…–…

"Ha ha ha~ Axis Powers, hello!"

The day hadn't started out so badly for Germany, all things considered. He'd had a relatively quiet morning of paperwork, and then he'd met up with Japan and Italy; the Italian Nation had tried to run away only thrice, and he'd clung to him a bit less than usual, and Japan had lost concentration only twice, so all in all, Germany had considered the day a success.

Until England arrived.

Germany had been about to ask Japan and Italy what they'd do if England appeared in front of them dressed like a policeman, and then… England's voice had interrupted him, making the whole team jump and turn around…

Germany lifted his hands balled into fists, ready to fight. Italy's grip on his white flag tightened, ready to start wagging it around with his most pitiful look. Japan readied his katana, about to extract it from its sheathe…

Then they looked up, and froze.

Yes, it was England. Those eyebrows were impossible to miss, really, but…

"Wait, wait, that's just England, ve~?" Italy blinked, not sure what face to make.

England was standing in front of them dressed with some sort of white toga, a pair of cute, fluffy wings popping up from behind him, and a… halo hovering above his head. And he was smirking, pointing towards them something that looked a bit too much like a wand with a star on its tip.

"G–Germany–san… we never did cover what we should do if England–san pops around dressed as… er… _eto… _an angel?" Japan's cheeks were redder than usual, and he quickly looked to the ground, refusing to stare up at the Englishman's uncovered legs.

"…" Germany really didn't know what to do, either –this was an attire he'd never ever considered, and he was left speechless, his brain trying to cope with the sight and not blank out. "I…"

"B–but I'm not England!" cheeks flushed in shame, England tried to recover his pride, puffing his chest out and laughing. "Haha~ I'm Britannia Angel, of course, you foolish people!"

Italy, Germany and Japan exchanged a look, their faces blank, and England turned even more crimson.

"D–don't look at me like that, you bloody idiots! I came here to solve your problems with Italy once for all, so you'd better thank me!"

"V–ve?" Italy squealed, hiding himself behind Germany. "W–what? Germany, ve~, help me! England is scary! And freaky! Is he a perv?"

"I–Italy, stop squirming! He can't do anything, he has no weapons on himself," Germany tried to rationalise, twitching and turning around, pushing the Italian away from him.

"B–but…"

Hit by the 'perv' comment, England straightened his back, trying to ignore it, and waved his wand around. "Don't worry, Germany, it will be a progress! _Hoata_!"

There was a flash, then an explosion, and white smoke surrounded the Axis, and that was it.

"There, all done, don't bother thanking me for that!"

Coughing, Germany took a step back, shocked –did England have a smoke grenade on him?– and waited for the white cloud to disappear.

At his right, Japan let out a startled yell, and he turned around.

"Japan, is everything alright?"

"S–something grabbed my hand!"

"Yaa~n!"

Germany froze at the unfamiliar and loud shriek, and waved his arms around, finally dispelling the smoke. Japan was staring down with wide eyes, and when he moved over, Germany managed to see something fluffy and green clutching at the Japanese nation.

"Ja–"

"Ah~? W–who are you? W–where is Austria?" with a loud, childish and girlish voice, the small green thing turned around, and Germany found himself staring down at a strangely familiar, chubby face.

The fluffy thing was actually a vaporous dress with a white frilly apron on top and a white kerchief tied around a small kid's head.

What had grabbed Japan's leg was actually a little girl, her small hands tightly clutching at the Japanese Nation's pants.

Germany felt his cheeks burn crimson at the sight; everything about this little girl screamed _cute_ –from her puffy cheeks to her small arms and legs to her big, round brown eyes, she was the epitome of cuteness.

"L–let me go, please," Japan looked to the side, then back at the girl, red cheeks turning even redder. Germany didn't really know what was passing through his head, but he guessed it was something similar to what he was thinking.

_Cute._

There really was no other word to describe the little girl.

It was only then that Germany realised he'd entirely forgot about Italy and England's threat towards him; momentarily ripping his attention away from the adorable girl, Germany looked around, not finding Italy anywhere.

"Italy?" he called out, feeling a small twinge of worry curl inside his stomach. "Italy!"

Maybe he'd retreated when England had thrown that grenade, or–

"Y–yes? H–how do you know my name?"

Germany paused and looked down at the girl, who was still staring fearfully at him, big tears pooling into the corners of her eyes. Germany was once again assaulted by the intense need to pat her head and…

Wait.

There was a curl bobbing up and down at the side of the girl's head.

There were only three people who had a similar curl –Italy, South Italy, and that Micro–Nation Seborga.

And the girl's eyes, and the face, now that Germany looked closer…

"I–_Italy_?" he ventured, eyes wide.

This couldn't be Italy –this was a _girl_!

"Yaa~n!" the girl squealed and promptly let go of Japan's leg, rushing behind him and staring in fear up at Germany. "S–scary~"

Germany froze again, shocked and vaguely hurt. Yes, this was Italy, indeed, but how…

Japan's lips twitched upwards, vaguely amused at Germany's reaction, then he looked at the little Italy again, his only thought a mantra –_'moe~'_

"H–how did this happen?" Germany refused to admit magic existed, but then how to explain _this_? "Is… is this girl… _Italy_?"

This was a bit too much for his rational mind, and Germany's thoughts went instantly to the beer he had at home, safely away in the fridge. Oh, how he wanted one of those beers now!

"H–hungry~" the little girl… no, _Italy_… rubbed at his left eye with one small hand, then stared up at Japan, her… _his_ little stomach rumbling. "Do you perhaps carry some pasta with you?"

Blushing a fierce crimson, Japan stared to the side, unable to face that adorable kid. "Ah… _ano_…" he hadn't known Italy was such a cute kid when little… and he was wearing a dress…

Japan's eyes turned dull as he lost himself in his thoughts, mentally listing all the cute cosplay clothes he could have little Italy wear for him, and–

"England!" using his commanding tone, Germany turned around, ready to thunder his anger and overall confusion on the culprit, and found nobody there.

England was gone.

"W–what–"

"V–ve~ I need to go back to Austria's house before I get punished!"

With that, the little thing that was now Italy turned around and promptly ran down the street, incredibly fast for someone wearing such a big, fluffy dress.

"W–wait! Stop right there and come back here, Italy!"

"U–uwaaa~ that person is so scaryy~ big sister Hungary help mee~"

Germany, who had been about to chase Italy down and make him stop, froze in mid step, once again suffering damage at being called 'scary' by this cute little kid–Italy, and Italy took that opportunity to run away even faster, disappearing down the road.

"Uh… Germany–san…? W–what did just happen?"

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**SOY:** thank you for reading, and if you could drop me a comment so that I know what you think of it, I'd be really happy. ^^ see you next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

**SOY:** thank you to everybody who dropped me a review! I really feel loved! *hearts all of you* I'm glad this little crack fic of mine got such a good, favourable response, it makes me happy. please keep on enjoying it!

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Rating**: K+.

**Warnings:** mostly fluffiness, some hints at GerIta, some crack.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Hetalia.

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Magic Trick**

**Chapter 02**

Prussia's day had started rather well, everything considered.

His un–awesome little brother had left the house at eight AM sharp (as usual, because Germany was anal like that. Heehee, anal…), and Prussia had managed to sleep in once again. Then, he'd had breakfast with leftover wurst and some cool beer, and he'd fed the little bird always following him with some lettuce.

Then, he'd spent the whole morning lounging on his anal brother's sofa, reading Germany's porn magazines.

And now, he was going to go spy at Austria's house again, hoping to catch a glimpse of something compromising to use as black mail –in case of failure, at least he'd be able to bother that un–awesome aristocrat a bit.

Well, hoping Hungary was not around.

"Kesese~ I'm so awesome…"

Standing in front of Austria's window, Prussia peered in. There was nobody in that room, which was fortunate as he was planning on sneaking inside…

"Ve~!"

Something collided with the back of his legs, and Prussia lost his balance, grabbing the edge of the window with one arm to prevent himself from falling –which would have been un–awesome, of course– and at the same time turning around, effectively angered.

"Hey, who dares to–"

The words died on his lips at the sight he was presented with.

A pair of small, white bloomers surrounded by layers of white fluffy linen, and two cute, chubby legs waving in the air.

Now, Prussia _really_ was not a pedo –that was more Spain's kind of thing– but he felt a sudden rush of blood explode in his head at the sight, and it took him more than a minute to get his bearings back, and by then, the waving little legs had finally managed to topple the person over.

Which brought Prussia into a newfound state of daze.

"I–Ita? Did you shrink overnight and I was not warned about it?"

Brown eyes looked up at him in fear, but then something akin to recognition passed through them, and his expression cleared into a big, relieved smile.

"Ve, Prussia! Prussia! It's so good to see you again!" Italy bounced towards him and wrapped his short, chubby arms around Prussia's legs, hugging him for all it was worth. "I've been so scared, ve~ there's this big buff guy who was following me and he was so scary~ and big sister Hungary wasn't anywhere to help!"

Italy wanted to say more, but Prussia kneeled down and scooped him up in a close hug, and Italy promptly forgot everything in his haste to return the hug, smiling and giggling.

"You've become so tall, Prussia~ did you gain many territories?" he asked after a bit, nuzzling at Prussia's chin.

The Prussian man frowned. He'd lost sight of the situation because Italy was far too cute, and the desire to hug him had overwhelmed everything, but now it was better to focus on the obvious problem.

"Italy, what happened to you?"

"I told you, ve~ there was this scary guy who yelled at me, and I ran away to get to Austria's house, but he was chasing me and I was afraid!" he hesitated, then smiled shyly. "But now that you're here, you will protect me too, right Prussia?"

Brown eyes widened exponentially, and Prussia almost backed away, feeling a wave of protectiveness wash over him.

"O–of course! This awesome me will do anything in order to protect you, Ita!"

"Ve~" with a giggle, Italy leaned up and gently kissed Prussia's cheek, wiggling to be let down a second later.

"I need to go back to my cleaning now~ Austria will surely be angry~"

That said, Italy started walking towards the main entrance of Austria's house, quickly followed by a puzzled Prussia, who was split between being massively happy for the chance to hug the cute Ita, and worried that Italy clearly could not remember of his time as an adult.

Had he remembered, he'd have opted to go at Germany's house instead, or even at his own house to his brother… instead, he ended up at Austria's house, and he clearly believed to be still working there…

Even someone like Prussia (who didn't care much for details) could do the math here.

And who was the mysterious 'mean person' that had attacked cute Ita? Was it one of the Allies? Prussia considered doing a private attack to Russia's house, but in the end decided otherwise… he didn't want to leave Ita unattended.

Italy pushed the door of Austria's house open, and gaped at what he saw, not understanding. He'd left the house not even five minutes before, right? Then why was it so drastically changed? There were many more paintings, and a giant vase in a corner, and…

Where were the candles? What were those strange egg–shaped opaque things?

"V–ve~"

Walking down the corridor, Italy continued looking around, eyes wide and mouth open in wonder; how did Austria manage to make so many changes in so little time?

"Ita, maybe you should wait a moment while the awesome Me goes to speak with Austria!" Prussia closed the front door and ran up to him, eyes darting around in fear of Hungary popping out of nowhere.

"Why? A–am I in trouble? I'm sorry! I didn't mean to go away! I… I just don't remember anything after leaving the house, and then seeing the scary person yelling at me!"

"No, no, I'm just going to talk to him so… uh…" Prussia bounced on his feet, thinking hard about what to say, "so he doesn't punish you! It was definitely not your fault! And you were chased away by some brute, right?"

"Ve!" Italy nodded vehemently, still rather scared by the blond haired man that looked familiar, but in a way he couldn't point out. "Prussia is really nice with me~"

"Kesesese~ you're just so cute…" Prussia stepped forwards and rubbed Italy's head, smirking to himself. He had no idea what to say to Austria, but for this cute face, he'd do anything.

Italy promptly sat down in the corridor, his back against the wall and staring up at a specific painting that had attracted his attention, and Prussia left him there, knowing already where to find Austria.

The Austrian Nation was, just like the Prussian Nation had expected, in the music room, polishing his piano with a cloth; as he heard Prussia enter the room, Austria stopped his cleaning and turned around, a frown appearing on his forehead.

"Ah, Mr. Stupid is here," he murmured softly, straightening his back and placing the cloth on top of the piano's surface. "What do you want, Prussia?"

"As much as I'd want to say I'm here to bring the Awesome in your life, I am sorry but that will have to wait… we have a problem currently sitting in your corridor".

Austria's frown deepened. "What is it? If it has anything to do with Hungary and her frying pan, I won't listen to a single–"

"It's Italy".

Austria stiffened, and there was a small flicker of worry in his eyes which appeased Prussia's worry. "What about Italy?" surely it had to be nothing really important –maybe he'd gotten sick over gelato again, or Germany had stated something excessively mean to him, and…

"It appears he's shrunken a bit since last time I've seen him, that's all," Prussia rubbed the bridge of his nose, clearly confused. "He's even wearing his old dress, and that…" cheeks flushed red, Prussia cleared his throat.

"What are you talking about, Prussia? Please further explain, I cannot follow your half–witted brain processes!"

Narrowing his eyes at Austria's offensive words, Prussia grunted. "Well, you know what? You don't need to know, I'm bringing cute Ita away with me! I'll tell him you're just an evil musician and he'll come at my house, instead!"

Austria was about to retort, still not understanding a single thing of what Prussia was saying, but a loud squealing interrupted them.

Prussia was the first to react, leaving the music room in a haste, and Austria sighed and followed him, wondering what was happening and why it should matter to him. As he got in the corridor, he saw Hungary crouched on the floor, holding something in her arms and cooing at it, and…

"Big sister Hungary, p–please don't squeeze me, I can't breathe… ve~"

Austria blinked and took a step forwards, and finally realised that Hungary was holding to her chest a shrunken Italy, who was actually wearing his old maid clothes, and was flushed by the closeness to Hungary's bosom.

"How… wha–"

"Austria! Look at him! He's my sweet little Ita again!" Hungary's eyes turned to him, burning fiercely with some emotion Austria didn't want to find a name for, and she was smiling brightly. "Isn't he so cute~"

Italy froze at mention of Austria's name and looked up to his once caretaker, trying to hide into Hungary's arms. "I'm sorry, Austria! I didn't mean to slack off! I swear I…" Italy blinked and narrowed his eyes, lips curling into such a cute pout that it made Prussia and Hungary swoon, and even Austria's cheeks turned vaguely red.

He'd forgotten how cute Italy had been when little…

"Ve~ why has Austria gotten this big? W–was there a war or a concession of territories while I was away? Even big sister Hungary seems so biiig~"

Austria and Prussia shared a look, as Austria finally realised they had a problem.

They were in the middle of a war, Italy was one of Germany's main allies, and now he was clearly incapacitated –he was back in his child's body, and he had no memories further his time at Austria's house.

Now they only had to see how far those memories went, and maybe find a way to turn Italy back to his actual age… how had that happened, actually?

Austria cleared his throat, "ah, Italy, you–"

It was then that the front door was pushed open in a hurry, and Germany, followed by Japan, entered into Austria's house, looking around frantically.

"Is there–" his eyes fell on Italy's form in Hungary's arms and he stiffened, lips turning into a thin line. "Here he is!" he grunted with a darkened expression. "Italy!"

Japan politely nodded, fighting against his impulse to remove his shoes upon entering someone else's house, and for a moment his eyes met with those of Hungary, and a long conversation somehow took place without a word being spoken between them.

'_Italy has turned into this cute, little chubby kid, and I want to dress him up'._

'_Let's wait until things have been explained, and then we will take photos'._

The stillness of the situation was broken by a shrill yell from Italy, who tried to wriggle out of Hungary's arms, panicking. "V–ve~! The mean guy's back to hurt me! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Hungary please save me! Yaaa~n he's so scary!"

Prussia and Austria shared another look in bafflement. "Eh?"

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**SOY:** so that was it. As again, sorry for the short chapters, but it's way more manageable like that. ^^ stay tuned until next time. :3


	3. Chapter 3

**SOY:** whoa, I'm so, so happy you like this fic so much! My heart is warmed up by that! thank you so much! Thank you! And here you have another chapter! Please enjoy!

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Rating**: K+.

**Warnings:** mostly fluffiness, some hints at GerIta, some crack.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Hetalia.

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Magic Trick**

**Chapter 03**

"So… that is what happened, huh…"

Austria took a sip of his tea and slowly shook his head, completely at loss. At his side, Hungary's eyes darted to where Italy was quietly sitting; the de–aged Nation was entranced, looking at Austria's television.

Acting like the maid he believed to be, Italy had insisted to prepare tea for Austria and his guests, shocked when the musician had offered him to just let him do it, and he'd looked so frantic, afraid to be doing a poor work as a maid, that Austria in the end had to relent.

Besides, Italy didn't want to linger around Germany anyway, even after Austria, Prussia and Hungary assured him he'd nothing to fear from the other Nation.

"It is quite surprising… but if it was England's doing, doesn't this mean he'll know a way to make Italy turn back to his normal self?" Hungary asked, smiling as Italy's eyes widened in shock when on screen, a man turned around and started playing a guitar.

"I… uh, I am not entirely sure…" Germany was still clinging to his rational self, and he couldn't just outright admit that England had used magic on Italy.

He didn't even know why England would try to mess with them, other than to win a battle, but turning Italy into a kid…? He couldn't understand the reasoning behind the act.

Prussia downed his tea with a small grimace, sad that it wasn't beer, then smirked. The situation didn't look quite as bad as his _bruder_ made it seem, actually –Italy was such a cute little ball of fluff, and he didn't mind cuddling him some more…

After a small, tense silence, Germany coughed into his fist and glanced at little Italy. "Uh… so, that is how Italy looked back then…?"

"Yes~ he was so adorable…" Hungary's eyes had a strange glint, and the way her lips stretched upwards had both Germany and Prussia scoot away from her. Austria, used to her bouts of scariness, barely registered it. "I once gave him my old clothes to wear… he was terribly cute~"

Before he could stop himself, Germany found himself thinking that despite everything, Italy was still cute, even now in the present; then, disgruntled and embarrassed at his own thoughts, he bit the insides of his mouth.

"Ah… that… explains a lot about Austria–san, I guess," Japan hesitantly commented, though not unfavourably. Austria flushed red at his words, glancing at the Japanese Nation with distress written clearly on his face.

"I–It isn't what it looks like! I… I was under the impression that Italy was a girl, back then, and so were most of the nations and humans around, too…" sour and embarrassed at his own mistake, Austria covered his face with the cup of tea, hoping for the blush to vanish. "That does not aid us in changing him back, though," he stated after a small moment to compose himself.

"Since we established that it's England's fault… _somehow_," Germany cleared his throat, taking control of the situation again, "We need to form a battle plan to capture him. We cannot keep ourselves crippled like that, what will happen if the Allied Nations attack? They could use Italy against us".

As one, they all turned towards Italy, who was now cooing over a cat in a TV program.

"Ve~" Italy knocked on the glass, tears pooling in the corner of his eyes. "A–Austria…"

"What is it, Italy?"

"H–how can I free Mr. kitten from this box? I'm sure he's going to be lonely and hungry… poor Mr. kitten…"

Prussia, who had been secretly cooing over Italy up until that moment, swooned and blushed and stood up, ready to rush at the little Nation's side to cuddle him to his heart's consent, but Hungary was faster –she grabbed the hem of his shirt and tugged him back down, her glare promising a world of pain.

With a whimper, Prussia slumped back on his chair, inwardly wailing.

"I–Italy, that cat…" Germany tried to reason with Italy, but a look at his face had the small Italian Nation squeal and scamper behind the television, tears now rolling down his cheeks.

"S–so scary~"

Once again suffering damage from the hit, Germany looked away, hurt by Italy's words. "I'm not…"

"Hello there, Italy–kun," Japan decided to take things into his own hands and moved close to where Italy was hiding, kneeling in front of him and smiling gently at him. "My name is Japan, and I am a friend of Austria and Prussia".

Italy peered up at him with big, teary eyes, and sniffled, small hands clutching at the side of the television support. "V–ve?"

'_S–so moe…' _"Yes, and you don't have to worry about the cat, he's not really inside this… box. It's just a picture of a cat".

"B–but it moves! It really really looks like a cat…"

"It's… it's magic," Japan assured, trying to look convincing. "Magic makes the cat move, but he can't come out, and he's not in pain at all".

Italy's tears dried up instantly, and his eyes widened considerably, cheeks flushed red. "Really? It's a magical box that makes the kitty happy? Ya~n!"

Danger averted, Japan smiled and stood up, but a small hand curled on his pants made him stop and stare down at Italy again.

"Y–yes?"

"H–how can you sit close to him?" Italy pointed at Germany, who grunted in his direction, starting to get annoyed at the clear fright he caused in the little Nation. "He's so scary!"

"Ah, well, Germany–san isn't really that scary… he is just very strict," Japan tried to appease his ally, a smile still on his lips. "He yells a lot, and makes us do work out until we're worn out, and he drinks lots of beer, and–"

"V–ve…?"

Germany slumped on the table, about to slam his head against the surface and be done with the whole situation, and Japan hurriedly tried to make up for his hasty words.

"B–but he always protects his allies, and he's really a nice person, even if he looks scary," he stated.

Italy peered at Germany, still unsure and afraid, and Germany stared back at him, defeated, and didn't react when Italy hurriedly hid behind Japan again.

"Italy…" Austria called out, and instantly Italy ran up to him, ready to listen to his orders. Austria blinked, feeling somewhat pleased, and stared down at him with a stern look. "Italy, I would like you to stay here in the house and not move, we need to leave for a bit".

"Ve~ what do I have to clean while you are away?"

Austria looked at the Nations around him, then back at Italy.

"You can clean the attic, it will keep you occupied while we are out" he replied.

With a cheerful nod, Italy waved at Hungary and patted Prussia's arm with his hand, making the older nation coo in delight, then he nodded at Japan, and finally stood in front of Germany, looking him up and down.

"Ve…"

"What?" Germany massaged his forehead, not up to listen to this cute Italy tell him how scary he was.

"Uh– ah… I… ve…" Italy squealed and took a step back, fidgeting. "Y–you look like someone I know… Mr. Germany… he was scary like you at first, but then he was really really nice to me~"

Germany grunted, not noticing how Austria, Hungary and Prussia stiffened at Italy's words, and shrugged. "So?"

"W–well, if Mr. Germany is really like what Mr. Japan says, then j–just like that person… y–you're a bit scary, but…"

Italy fell silent, then hesitantly stretched one hand forwards, aiming at Germany's left knee. Germany stiffened at Italy's concentrated look, but unfortunately his blank face expressed the wrong kind of message, and Italy squealed and backed away from him.

"V–ve~ I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" with that, he retreated from him and ran out of the room, tears in his eyes again.

Germany crumbled on the chair.

"Kesesese… _bruder_, you really should try harder to please little Ita!"

Germany's cheeks flushed red at his brother's words and he hid his face in his hands, exasperated already with the whole situation.

He needed to get his hands on England as soon as possible, so that things would go back to how they were before –with Italy mostly _not_ scared of him.

Stupid England…

…–…–…–…

Italy wiggled upstairs and grabbed the broom from the usual closet, using its handle to get the cord of the trap door to the attic, pulling down the retracting stairs with practiced ease –after all, he'd done that more times than he could count.

With a determined smile, Italy grabbed his cleaning cloths (there were many bottles with unknown names that had appeared while he'd been away, and once again that left Italy a bit surprised) and started climbing the stairs.

He was still wondering if he'd overslept through something important, because there were so many strange people around now, and Austria, Hungary and Prussia had grown up in the span of minutes, but it wasn't his place to question his caretaker.

After all, he was just a small colony…

"Ve~ I wonder how Holy Roman Empire is doing… I miss him so much…"

Maybe he'd grown up, too, during the war? The thought left him a bit sad, because he was still small and weak and under Austria's control.

With a sigh, Italy got up the stairs and looked around. At least the attic looked the same as always, except a few more piles of things around… maybe Hungary brought up the stuff that Austria replaced with the new, interesting things? Like that magic box with the kitten inside…

Unfortunately that meant it'd take more time to clean… as Italy pondered on that, he felt his stomach grumble; all that running around had gotten him hungry, and he _really_ wished for a plate of pasta now…

"Pasta…" cheeks flushed red as he thought about his supreme love, Italy sat close to the stairs and pondered whether to go to the kitchen to get his pasta before cleaning or just start cleaning and hope his hunger would disappear.

After all, Austria didn't like it when Italy ate during the day, but…

"M–maybe I could get _some_ pasta… just a bit…" with a sniffle and a sudden determination to get something to eat, Italy nodded to himself and slithered down the staircase once more.

If he sneaked into the kitchen and made it quick, Austria wouldn't notice… besides, he said he'd be going out, so he could get his pasta~!

Bouncing downstairs again, Italy sneaked into the kitchen, happy to see that Austria, Hungary and the guests were all gone already. He had the house all for himself, so he could get pasta now~

Even the pots and the kitchen were different, and Italy panicked when he realised that the old stove was gone and something shiny had appeared in its place, and he was even more scared when he realised that fire appeared on its own when pressing a small protuberance to the side.

Everything looked scary now, and Italy felt alone and confused, but he knew that pasta would make everything ok again, and maybe when Austria was back, he could ask about it all…

After all, if he had to work in the house, he needed to know all about the new magical stuff…

"_Italie_?"

Italy jumped in surprise, letting out a squeak and dropping the empty pot he'd planned on using, and it fell on the floor with a loud noise.

Turning around, tears welling up in his eyes, Italy was about to start crying again when…

"Ah~? Big brother France~?"

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**SOY:** so that was it. As again, sorry for the short chapters, but it's way more manageable like that. ^^ stay tuned until next time. :3

_Bruder_ (German) – brother.


	4. Chapter 4

**SOY:** Hahaha! Thank you so much for liking last chapter! I left you with a small cliffhanger, but don't worry, Big Brother France is here for you now~

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Rating**: K+.

**Warnings:** mostly fluffiness, some hints at GerIta, some crack.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Hetalia.

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Magic Trick**

**Chapter 04**

"Ya~n! Big brother France is so nice with me~"

France held Italy close in his arms, rubbing their cheeks together and smiling contentedly –a perverted smile that Italy thankfully couldn't see from his position.

Whilst unexpected, this situation really appealed to France's tastes. Indeed.

"Haha, of course, Italy, how could anyone be mean with someone as cute as you~"

"Ve~ I was so very surprised that brother France was around, but I'm happy to see you~"

"I'm happy to see you too, Italy…" a hand shifted a bit lower, and Italy squealed loudly. "Now, tell me again what happened?"

"There was a lot of smoke all of sudden, and a huge guy with a scary face was staring at me, and I was lots afraid~" Italy clutched at France's shoulders, wiggling his chubby legs around. "Then Mr. Japan said that he wasn't a bad person, but he's still scary, so…"

"I'm sure the scary person… isn't that bad, in the end…" France, vaguely pitying Germany, decided not to worsen his situation, but the (slight) concern was quick to vanish. "But now you're with _moi_, little Ita… so forget about Germany!"

At first, France had planned to spy Austria's house simply because he was hoping to gather precious information on the Axis (_ok, well, not really. He'd been spying Austria's house in hope of seeing Austria or Hungary in compromising situations so that he could perv on them_), but when he'd seen Italy in the kitchen, holding a pot bigger than him…

Oh, France's heart had filled with love and the need to share that love with the little Italy.

It was possible that England was responsible of this, and France would have to thank him (_once again, not really. He'd only thank him in his mind_) for the opportunity –seeing Italy this small and cute and adorable again was…

Not that present Italy wasn't cute and adorable too, but he wasn't as fond of France's hugs as much as he'd been when younger…

"You belong with brother France now, Ita~" France was going to keep this little Italy with him. He was aware that all of England's spells never lasted all that much, so maybe he'd demand him to renew this particular one before it vanished…

"But Austria asked me to clean the attic~" Italy wriggled a bit, worried.

"Don't worry about Austria anymore, Ita! He… was defeated and you're with me now!"

Eyes widening in shock, Italy pushed away from France's chest to look up at his serious face.

What? France had defeated Austria all by himself? When had that happened?

"B–but…" tears streamed down Italy's eyes again, at the knowledge that his big brother had hurt his caretaker. "A–Austria lost?"

"Hush, hush… it's ok, I will take care of you now…" France tried really hard to make Italy stop crying, but his smile must have been scary again, because instead of stopping, Italy cried even harder.

It almost reminded him of when Italy had been forced to really come at his house for a while… ah, sweet, sweet memories…

Frantically trying to think of something that would make Italy calm down, France finally had an illumination.

"Don't cry, I'll let you have pasta every day!"

Instantly, Italy stopped crying and blinked up at him, lips curled up in a pout that turned France's brain into goo.

"R–really?" he asked, almost suspicious. "Pasta… for me?"

"_Oui, oui_, of course! All the pasta you want! Hohoho~"

Italy fidgeted a bit, peering from above France's shoulders to look at Austria's house disappearing in the distance, and felt tears resurface again.

Once again, he had to give in to a stronger nation, and he would have to leave Hungary, and Austria, and Prussia, and…

"I–if h–_he_ comes back, will I be able to see him?"

The question was asked in such a low tone that even at such close distance, France had troubles hearing it, and even then, he didn't know what Italy meant at first; it only took a glance at Italy's cross face for France to understand though, and his heart constricted in his chest.

Right, this little Italy was still waiting…

"Ah… Italy…" tightening his grip on Italy's shoulders, France closed his eyes so that the little Nation would not see the sadness in them. After a second, he forced a smile on his lips, and gently kissed Italy's forehead. "Of course, I would never keep anything from you!"

"Uwa~ thank you brother France! You're the best!"

Allowing Italy to hug his neck, France took a deep breath and started walking towards England's house again.

He didn't want to think about Italy's question anymore.

…–…–…–…

"I don't know what you want me to do, though," Austria straightened his back and looked at Germany in disapproval. "I could have remained home to check on Italy, my presence here is utterly useless".

"Kesese~ you're _always_ useless, you stupid musi–"

Hungary attacked with her frying pan, silencing Prussia in an instant.

After carefully tucking the pan away with a smile, she stared at Germany as well. "Austria is right. In such a situation, allowing Italy to stay home alone is a bit too much…"

"I think we need all the help we can to find that England… besides, the attic will keep Italy busy, and the only person who would come at your house is Switzerland… and he would never enter of his own volition," Germany countered, busy thinking where they could go search for the Englishman.

"If we hunt down England–san in a tight group, there is no telling that he won't do… whatever he did to another one of us," Japan commented, eyes narrowed.

While ready to track England down, Japan was feeling quite guilty; he liked Italy this small and cute… he'd thought of so many dresses to have him wear, it was unfair he couldn't just go back and let his desires run free…

There again, he also wanted Italy to go back to his age. Besides, he'd never seen older Italy dressed as a female (yet) and he was sure he could give that a change to see if…

It appeared that the discussion had progressed while Japan had been lost in his thoughts, because Germany had finally relented to Austria's objection.

"We will divide in two groups then," Germany ordered. "Japan and I will search through the nearby cities, as it is not impossible that England went to get a drink… Hungary, Austria, you will try going at his house!"

"Wait, what about the awesome me!"

"Prussia, you can go back to Austria's house and keep an eye on Italy".

Instantly, Prussia's hurt pout turned into a brilliant smirk, and the little bird in his hair flapped his tiny wings, almost as if just as happy as his owner. "Ah~ hehe, that will be perfect! I will do my best to entertain him until you come back with the English tea–drinker!"

"Piyo!"

"W–wait a moment! Why should I trust this uncouth person into my house, and with Italy reduced in the state he is?"

"Austria is right, you can't trust Prussia with Italy!" Hungary's hands clenched on her dress.

Germany glanced at them both, then at a cackling Prussia, and sighed. "Would either of you be ok with investigating and searching for England together with my _bruder_?"

Hungary and Austria stared at each other, eyes wide, then turned towards Prussia.

"If I find out you've done anything to that poor creature, Prussia, I swear to God that I will–" Hungary lifted her frying pan high enough for Prussia to see, and she rejoiced when he backed away from her.

"Hey, who do you think I am? I will never allow anything to happen to cute Ita!" as he looked serious enough, both Austria and Hungary were appeased, and even Japan looked convinced.

Germany inwardly sighed and brought his hand up to massage his forehead. He wanted to be the one to go back to Austria's house and spend some time with this different Italy, even though (for no reason he could understand) he was _already_ missing older Italy, but as luck would have it, the cute little Nation was scared of him.

It was bad already when older Italy stared at him in fear whenever Germany yelled too much, but to see that frightened expression on such a cute little face made Germany feel like a monster.

He wanted Italy back… the same Italy that smiled at him and demanded hugs and kisses.

He'd never realised how much Italy's presence in his life made him feel warm and appreciated. Italy never cared for his scary faces, he still hugged him…

He missed him.

"Japan! Let's go!" he yelled, maybe a bit too harshly than he'd intended to. "Austria, Hungary, please retreat if you find yourself in a dangerous situation".

Austria nodded gracefully, and Hungary held up her pan, already planning out how she would use it. Seconds later, the group split up, and Prussia whistled, walking back to Austria's house.

The day surely looked better and better for him…

"Ita~ guess who came back to spend some time with you~"

Nobody answered, but Prussia had expected it –Italy was upstairs, in the attic, he obviously wouldn't have heard him.

Climbing up to the first floor, Prussia called out for Italy again, and again, no reply. Frowning a bit as his little bird took off from his hair to fly up the attic's trapdoor, Prussia followed him up.

The attic was empty.

"Ita~? Oi, Italy? Did you fall asleep?"

Once again, no answer. Prussia entered the stuffed attic, sliding through piles of books and old gramophone discs covered with layers of dust and old stuffed toys and crates of clothes, but Italy was nowhere to be seen.

Prussia descended the trap door again, looking around, and checked some of the rooms, calling Italy louder with every empty room. Still, he didn't find the shrunken nation.

Going downstairs again, feeling worried now, Prussia checked the sitting room and then the kitchen, noticing a pot on the floor. Maybe Italy had tried cooking something? Then, where was he? If he'd needed any ingredient, he'd have found them somewhere in the cupboards, where Austria kept everything…

Prussia scratched his chin, surprised.

Then…

"Hmm? What's this smell?"

Prussia sniffed and took a step into the kitchen, quickly moving to the window, his nose twitching as he backed away quickly, nostrils filling with a sickly sweet scent.

A familiar sickly sweet scent.

Cologne. _French_ cologne.

That nobody but one person would _ever_ wear.

"_Scheiße!_"

…–…–…–…

"Hahaha~ I'm back, my fellow Allied Powers!"

France slid into the room with his usual confident pace, waving at his fellow Nations already there.

Russia didn't pay the Frenchman any attention, too busy staring at a vase of sunflowers he'd gotten somewhere, and neither America nor China were anywhere in sight.

England didn't even look up from the newspaper he was reading, his eyebrows narrowing in distaste as soon as he heard the voice of France.

"Ah, Frog, so you're back again? I had hoped the Axis had taken you prisoner…"

"_Mon cher Angleterre_, your words hurt me…" France pressed one hand against his chest, feigning a deep pain. "You should–"

"V–ve? A–are you hurt here, brother France?" suddenly worried about the wellbeing of his adored brother, Italy gently pressed his own hand on top of France's, sniffling a bit. "Will a kiss make it better?"

England stiffened at the high–pitched voice and looked up, dreading the sight…

"France! What the hell?"

"Yaa~n! T–that man is so scary, brother France!" Italy's eyes filled with tears instantly, clutching at France's chest and hiding his face in his shirt, trembling all over.

France swooned at the cuteness and held him close, gently patting his head. "_Non_, Italy, that scary tasteless man won't hurt you, I promise~"

"Ooh~ who is this little guy, France?" Russia somehow appeared behind France, looming on him with a soft smile on his face. "Does he want to become one with me?"

France stiffened and moved away from Russia, dread slithering up his back, but Italy simply looked up at the unknown nation and sniffled.

"_Ciao_~ I'm Italy… who are you, mister?"

Russia blinked, put off by the fact that this small Nation was apparently not afraid of him, and met a pair of big, brown eyes looking up at him.

"Me? I'm Russia!"

"Ve~ pleased to meet you Mr. Russia~" appeased with that, Italy grinned widely at the Russian nation, who found himself smiling back at him.

France had a bad, bad feeling about it.

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**SOY:** :3 so the Allies have finally appeared… see you next chapter! ^^

_Moi (French) – _Me

_Mon cher Angleterre (French)_ – my dear England.


	5. Chapter 5

**SOY:** sorry for being late one day, but yesterday wasn't… a good day. please enjoy this chapter!

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Rating**: K+.

**Warnings:** mostly fluffiness, some hints at GerIta, some crack.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Hetalia.

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Magic Trick**

**Chapter 05**

"Your coat is so warm, Mr. Russia~"

France felt as if the world truly hated him.

He'd grabbed a cute, little Italy that didn't remember anything past Holy Roman Empire going to war, sure that he would be able to smother him with adoration and kisses, and now he'd been robbed of this chance… by the only person he would have never believed could get attached to someone like Italy.

"Is it? I am glad, little Italy~"

Comfortably fitted into Russia's big coat, head popping up from its folds, Italy giggled and clapped his and Russia's hands together in a steady rhythm.

He was clearly having fun.

France sighed dramatically and dropped his forehead against the table he was sitting at.

"You –_wanker_!"

And of course, what could be worse than having England bitch at him?

"I didn't do all that work only for you to ruin everything bringing Italy here! What were you thinking… oh, right, Frog, you were _not_ thinking!"

"_Pour l'Amour, Angleterre_, stop yelling at me… it is already horrible that I cannot cuddle with cute Ita, I don't need to listen to your horrible screeching voice blaming things on me…"

"Y–you bloody ba–"

"England, it would be best if you could tune down your language, _da_? It is not suitable for your children…"

England blanched and looked up, really, really slowly. Russia was standing close to him, smiling happily and with Italy peering out from his coat, holding himself up by gripping the edges with his little chubby hands; Italy was also smiling, clearly not understanding what was going on.

"Uh… I…" cheeks turning crimson, England backed away from Russia as fast as he could, and nodded, deciding that it was better to comply.

"England is a good boy, right Italy?"

"Ve~" Italy looked at England, blinking cutely, and his smile widened a bit, cheeks red in happiness.

England felt something inside his chest turn into goo, but he dismissed the feeling, because this was Italy, one of their enemies, and no matter how cute he looked, it was just a spell and he'd eventually turn back to his own age and he'd be their enemy again and…

"We need to send him back, he's a useless hostage anyway!" puffing his cheeks in annoyance, England refused to look at Italy again, fearing his power of cuteness.

Better to just–

Russia's smile turned chilly. "Ita? Remember what I said before? How do we call England?"

"Ve~" Italy smiled up at Russia, cracking his neck to stare at him upside down, and returned his attention to the Englishman. "Please, Big Brother England~"

That did it –England felt the world spin around him. How long since last time someone tried to call him 'brother'? He'd secretly wanted all that time, to…

Straightening his back, England puffed out his chest and closed his eyes, a smile stretching on his lips, trying to look high and mighty.

"O–of course we can keep him here all the time we want. No matter how much the git Germany will offer us, this kiddo here won't be leaving!"

Italy giggled in happiness, waving his little arms around and pressing the back of his head against Russia's chest. This group of people were really fun, and none of them was strict like Austria, either~

Then, his stomach grumbled, reminding him he'd yet to eat. "V–ve~ I'm hungry…"

His lips curled downwards in sadness. Russia's body stiffened.

"Now we will find something for you to eat, Italy, _da_?" Russia lifted him out of his coat and held him up, also frowning. "Please don't be sad".

"Nnnnh," Italy nodded, thankful at the promise of food, and France straightened his back, smiling in happiness.

Finally, something he could do!

"I shall cook the best French cuisine dishes for my little Ita! After all, _I_ am the best big brother!"

England's cheeks turned red in anger. "What did you say, you bas… you wan… _frog_! I will be the one to cook for little Italy! I will offer him my best scones!"

Both France and Russia stiffened at his words, the Frenchman looking to the side, smile frozen on his lips and twitching, the Russian man exuding an aura of doom.

"England, I don't appreciate your attempts to murder my little cute Ita…"

"What did you say?"

"That you, _mon ami_, utterly suck at cooking".

Russia gently tapped Italy's nose, his face regaining his usual calmness as he pointedly ignored France and England's banter. "Let us go see where China is… he will cook something nice for you, ok?"

"Pasta?" the little nation asked hopefully, giggling in Russia's arms.

"Hmmm," Russia replied noncommittally, turning around and leaving the two fighting nations to their bitching.

…–…–…–…

Hungary cleared her throat and stared up at the walls of England's house, keeping at a safe distance from the mansion.

Austria sighed, feeling utterly silly, hiding behind a few useful bushes and wondering why the situation reminded him of when Prussia spied on _him_.

"So, what do we do now?" he asked, knowing that Hungary was already in her fearless mood. It would be pointless to try and make her back down and wait, since this was her cute little Italy (now even cuter and littler than usual)the one in danger. "Germany explicitly stated not to get too close".

"He said we should retreat if we find ourselves in danger," she replied, glancing at him from above her shoulder. "We are not in danger".

"Yet," Austria pointed out.

"Oh, come on, Austria, don't tell me you're scared of England!"

"Well… I am just being cautious. It is a situation we know nothing of, and this is still war time, Hungary".

"That is why I have to get poor Ita back! Who knows what those idiots are doing to him!" despite her dramatic tone, her cheeks turned inexplicably red. "He might suffer under their hands, and–"

"Hungary, please stop squealing. I think I heard something".

Hungary promptly fell silent, and tried to banish from her head all the ideas she'd been thinking about. It was not the time to be thinking that, after all. Really.

If Prussia hadn't managed to catch them, explaining them the situation and what he thought had happened to the shrunken Italian Nation, Austria was sure that Hungary wouldn't have been this eager to get herself killed…

But no, a kidnapped Italy was enough of a reason for Hungary to go on a crusade to save him from the evil clutches of the Allied Powers.

They hid behind the bushes again, and peered through the leaves, watching America walk by, swinging a small bag filled with burgers around. He was humming something, but the two spies couldn't understand what song it was.

He didn't seem to be in a hurry, as he stopped a few times to unwrap another burger to eat it, cleaning his fingers on the side of his coat every few bites; when he reached the spot where Hungary and Austria were hiding, America stopped abruptly, sniffing and looking around.

"Haa?"

Hungary stiffened, and she felt Austria freeze at her side. Slowly, her hand moved to her frying pan, her fingers clutching around its handle…

"Hahaha~ that tree looks like England's brows!"

With that, America took a giant bite of his burger and walked away, completely missing the two spying Nations that had been inches away from his position.

Hungary wiped the sweat away from her forehead, and turned to look at Austria with a strange glint in her eyes.

"Come on, Austria! Let's get closer!"

"W–what? You can't be possibly thinking about it! We were close to being discovered, and there is no trace of Italy here!"

"My poor Ita is being held somewhere in there, I am sure of it! We have to find him and free him before it's too late!"

"… too late for what, exactly?" but as soon as he asked that, Austria decided he really didn't want to know what was going on in Hungary's brain.

The strange glint in her eyes was enough of a warning never to ask again.

"… fine. We shall take a look around the house, but I am taking you out of here at the first sign of danger," Austria stated, his tone final.

"Oh, Austria, you don't have to worry about me. _I_ will protect you to the best of my abilities!" with a sweet smile, Hungary grabbed her frying pan and held it up in the air. "Please follow me now!"

…–…–…–…

"West! West! Are you here! West!"

It was not awesome to admit it, but Prussia was almost panicking. Like, so close to freaking out that it was by no means funny.

He'd just lost Ita to France, of all people. This was un–awesome. Now France would be able to do all sort of cute things to Italy, like dressing him up and brushing his hair, and petting him and playing with him, and Prussia would not!

It was _not_ fair.

And of course, to top all of it, Germany was nowhere to be seen.

He'd said he would be checking the nearby locations, but he was nowhere to be seen!

"_Wes_–"

"Oooi! Stop yelling when you're close to my house, you bastard! Who do you think you are? Do you want to taste the metal of my bullets?"

Prussia froze and slowly turned around, finding himself staring up at Switzerland, who was sitting on a wall, cleaning his rifle.

"Uh… hahaha, I hadn't meant to stray this far into… uh, _neutral_ territories, Switzerland!" his little bird frantically started flapping his tiny wings. "But it's an emergency!"

"I don't care! Stay out of my house, you German bastard!"

Switzerland fastened the rifle on his shoulder and shot at Prussia's feet, making him recoil in shock.

"I'm not German! The Awesome me is of the purest Prussian blood you'll ever find!"

That said, he started to run. Tactical retreat wasn't to be condemned if it meant saving his own life (and ass) from a trigger–happy Nation's bullets.

Switzerland chased him, determined in not letting the man go unpunished.

This was utterly embarrassing, but for the sake of Italy, he'd stand any kind of–

Switzerland fired again, the bullets missing Prussia's ass by inches.

"Uwaaa! The awesome me can't be chased around like… like a prey! West, damn it, where are you!"

"_Bruder_?"

Prussia froze, coming to a screeching halt right in front of his brother and Japan, both staring at him with curiosity. He opened his mouth to clarify the situation, but a loud explosion anticipated any explanation he could have given them.

"Ah! Germany! You should know better than let your brother roam free in my territories!"

Switzerland, rightfully angered, pointed his rifle at Prussia, who promptly went to hide behind his brother.

Massaging his forehead, Germany let out a heavy sigh. "Switzerland, please forgive my brother's lack of attention, but we are in the middle of a small problem, and there is no time to waste–"

"I don't care! Keep your faces off of my territories!" Switzerland pointed the rifle to Germany's chest, who gulped and tried to think a way to have the Neutral Nation return to his house.

Japan, deciding it was time to intervene, stepped forwards, fixing his attention solely on Switzerland.

"What?" the Alpine Nation growled towards him, feeling unnerved by the stare.

Japan did not speak, simply content in staring at him. Switzerland suddenly felt sweat roll down his back; if he had to be honest, Japan unnerved him. After all, this was the Nation who thought of him as a happy crossdresser in a Heidi costume.

Japan's blank expression was entirely too easy to read for Switzerland, whose hands started to shake. No, he _knew_ what the Asian Nation was thinking, and it wasn't nice. At all.

It made Switzerland want to scream and retreat.

"Stop it!" he yelled, eyes narrowing in anger.

"Switzerland–san…"

"Your ideas of my place are all wrong!" feeling cornered, Switzerland let out a curse and turned around. "Fine! I will let this drop, but if I ever see you setting a foot in my house again, I will _not_ be this nice!"

Blinking and pushing a frown away, Germany turned to Japan, clearly not understanding what it had been all about.

"What did–"

"It is nothing, Germany–san, Prussia–san…" Japan allowed himself a small satisfied smile. "Well, what are you doing here, Prussia–san? Shouldn't you be with Ita–chan at Austria–san's house?"

"Ah, about that…" scratching his chin, Prussia told the remaining Axis about Italy's situation.

Germany's enraged yell reached Switzerland as he was retreating, causing him to speed up, not trusting the three Nations and wanting to secure Liechtenstein was safe at their house.

"Stupid war… stupid idiotic Japan…"

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**SOY:** I don't know how Switzerland got in this story. I just… don't' know. Don't ask. :D but if you liked, do review, it always makes me so happy ^.^


	6. Chapter 6

**SOY:** in this chapter nothing much happens, but there again, nothing much happened in all the other chapters, either. :P please enjoy, some more chara pop up!

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Rating**: K+.

**Warnings:** mostly fluffiness, some hints at GerIta, some crack.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Hetalia.

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Magic Trick**

**Chapter 06**

"Let's review the plan once again!"

Germany straightened his back and glared at his companions, making them fidget under his stern gaze.

"We shall infiltrate into England's house as soon as we meet up with Austria and Hungary, already stationed outside of it," he started, hand clenched into a fist. "We have no idea of Italy's current status, so we shall thread carefully when we find him. Please be aware that this is a dangerous operation, and we need not to fail".

"I want cute Ita back!"

"Ita–chan will be safely back with us by the end of the day, Germany–san!"

"Piyo!"

Germany glared at the bird still perched on Prussia's head, making him chirp once more and then hide somewhere into the white strands.

"Let's go then!"

"Ah, West, wait a moment!" Prussia lifted his hand in the air, effectively stopping Germany from walking away. "I thought it better to call reinforcements for the battle plan!"

Germany's vein on his temple started pulsating.

"… reinforcements? Who did–"

"Potato bastard! What did you do to my baby brother?"

A sudden kick to Germany's leg alerted him of the arrival of one Italy Romano, who promptly continued kicking him in the shins even though Germany barely felt it. Seconds later, a hand gently pressed on Romano's shoulder, pulling him away from the Blond Nation and into a pair of arms.

"Romano, calm down, it was not Germany's fault–"

"You shut up! You didn't even have to come with me! Why don't you go back to your house and hide in your closet, bastard!"

Watching Italy's older brother and Spain with a blank expression, Germany wondered why he had left his bed in the morning. It just wasn't worth it.

"Because my poor cute Italy has been taken hostage!" Spain dramatically wailed, rubbing his chin against Romano's head.

"You should be keeping out of this whole thing, idiot!" Romano had tears in his eyes, and that made Spain pause his rubbing. "Y–you might be caught in this war and get hurt, s–stupid!"

Spain smiled warmly at his once colony, his hold growing a bit tighter. He could easily see under South Italy's yells and insults what he really meant to say.

"Boss won't be hurt, you shouldn't worry, Romano… we will help Italy together, and everything will be fine again…"

"Uh, I am not sure this has anything to do with war anymore, actually," Japan piped in, clearing his throat and looking at Germany for confirmation. "Are you aware of the situation?"

"No, Potato bastard's potato brother only said my stupid brother had been caught by England, and that's why we're here," Romano glared at Prussia, who shrugged it off easily.

Japan nodded. "England used his magic on Italy, and turned him into a child. Then, by what Prussia stated, France caught him and brought him away, possibly at the base the Allied Powers have at England's house".

Spain's eyes turned impossibly wide as he understood the situation.

"Italy… as a kid? Again?"

Germany nodded curtly at him.

Spain's cheeks flushed red so quickly that the onlookers were actually shocked he didn't spontaneously combust, and Romano wriggled out of the Spaniard's grip and kicked Spain onto the ground, glaring down at him in contempt.

"Stop pervying on my brother!" then he turned towards Germany, fixing his glare onto him. "That goes for you too!"

Germany spluttered and stepped back, surprised at the vehement tone of Romano and at the blunt accuse that made his cheeks turn red.

"I have no interest whatsoever in discussing such a thing with you," he stated contemptuously, his own glare making Romano weep and run to hide behind a still crouched Spain. "Now, let's go".

Prussia helped Spain up and patted him on the back, wondering how his friend could stand Romano's horrible attitude, and moved to join his little brother again, determined to get Italy back.

…–…–…–…

"Who is the kid, aru?"

China barely glanced at the little girl in Russia's arms, far too busy preparing some food that he would sell later on in his Chinese towns around the world.

The sight of Russia holding something living to his chest (something that didn't run away screaming, at least) was actually enough to make China curious, but not curious enough to stop cooking.

He had business to make, after all, and curiosity only made him lose money.

"This is little Italy!" Russia held Italy up for China to see, and Italy wriggled in the hold, giggling up at the Chinese Nation.

He'd never met up with so many new people ever before, and he was having fun~

Too bad they were all so big.. but at least they were nice and hugged him a lot…

"Eh? Italy?"

China finally stopped mashing into his bowl and turned to look properly at the little girl, eyes widening when 'she' looked up at him with a confused expression. "Ve~?"

"S–s–so cute, aru!"

China lunged towards Italy, stealing him from Russia's hold and into his own arms, cuddling him and rubbing his chin against Italy's head.

"Can we keep him? Can we?"

Russia's smile turned vaguely creepy. "Italy is not going to go anywhere~ right, Ita?"

"Ve~" Italy smiled happily, and China cooed on him, perfectly satisfied and not even wanting to ask how the hell had Italy managed to get so young again.

Smiling happily once again, Russia pointed to what China was cooking. "Italy here is a bit hungry, would you cook for him?"

"Of course! I'll prepare anything to feed him, aru! Just give me some time!" pushing his sleeves up to his elbows, China shifted Italy so that he was on the basked he had on his back, hands entangled in his black hair. "Hold on there, Ita~ I will cook you my best noodles!"

"Ve~ is noodle like pasta?"

"Yeah!"

"Ya~y!"

Russia, feeling a bit empty without Italy's heat in his arms, simply stared as China moved around the kitchen, expertly preparing a pot of boiling broth in which he placed the noodles and a good amount of meat and vegetables.

Italy, peering out from the basked, stared at the preparations with wide, amused eyes, taking in every detail, waving his chubby arms around and giggling when the Chinese Nation started showing off with the knives.

"Ya~n! You're amazing, big brother China~"

Cheeks flushed in pleasure, China smiled and puffed his chest out, exhibiting his skills with the vegetables, delighted when Italy giggled and grabbed his head, smiling happily.

"Ve~!"

It had been long since China last had a comfortable weight on his back that looked with such a happiness at what he did, and the thought was bittersweet, really –the last had been Korea and Japan before they turned old and left him.

China knew he hadn't been that bad of a caretaker, yet he couldn't forget how good it had felt, to have big eyes stare at him in such innocent amazement.

Little Italy seemed happy and content, perched on his shoulders and clapping his little hands at him, and China felt suddenly more energetic than ever… so much that for once, he cooked for the whole Allied Powers –something that he rarely did.

"Here you go, there's food for all the group today, so let's get to the main room to eat, aru!"

Blinking in surprise at China's actions, Russia held out his arms and Italy readily shifted from China's back into them, smiling and wrapping the edge of the scarf around the Russian Nation's neck to his own neck.

China smiled gently at the display, holding up the huge pot of food and expertly manoeuvring himself out of the room, followed by Russia and Italy.

"This place is so big~ does it belong to brother China?" Italy couldn't help but ask, looking at the scary armatures and at the severe–looking paintings on the walls.

"No, aru! My house is a thousand times better than this one~" china replied, shaking his head and turning to look at Italy with a smile. "It has a big garden and beautiful walls! And the wall paintings are all handmade with brushes and ink…"

Italy's eyes sparkled in awe as China continued talking, mouth forming an 'o' of surprise at all the beautiful things that the other Nation was describing.

"My house is even bigger, _da_?" Russia interjected, not liking how Italy's attention had switched to China. "It is cold but it is very beautiful".

Italy stared up at him, a warm smile melting Russia's anger like sun on snow. "Ve~ I hope one day to see it, Mr. Russia! Yours, too, brother China!"

With a fond smile, both Allied Powers continued walking down towards the main hall.

…–…–…–…

"This is highly undignified…"

"Oh, please, Austria, we successfully infiltrated into England's house, there's nothing to be stiff about…" Hungary wouldn't usually have opposed Austria's words, but this was a special occasion –she would do anything to get back Italy, after all.

The two Nations, after having avoided America's attention, had carefully circled the whole house, finding a secret passage almost completely hidden by an ivy plant, and with Hungary leading the way, and Austria complaining that they should mind their steps and just wait for Germany to arrive, they had penetrated into the house.

"This is going to get dangerous soon, Hungary. We cannot be found out, or we won't be able to get Italy without the Allies harming him. Or one of us," the Austrian musician continued, knowing that this was a very bad idea.

"I told you that I would protect you, Austria. You know I am perfectly capable of doing that… and we'll be enough to get Italy out of the hands of those kidnappers!"

"Don't get too much into it, please…" giving up on trying to convince Hungary to get out from the house, Austria sighed and looked around.

They had no idea on where to go or how to find the Allies, much less find Italy inside here…

"Hung–"

"Shhh!"

Hurriedly pressing one hand over Austria's mouth, Hungary pushed both of them against the wall, pressing her back against the side of an armature and frowning. She'd heard voices coming from the intersecting corridor, and…

"What did you say? A kid?"

Hungary sighed in disappointment. It was America again. How did it happen that they kept meeting up with him?

"I mean, I knew England was a bit of a pedo, but really… even getting so far as to take one of our enemies and turn him into a child for his sick pleasure…"

America's voice was getting closer, and both Hungary and Austria looked at each other in surprise; who was the younger Nation talking with?

As America appeared from around the corner, moving forwards without looking at the side where Austria and Hungary were hidden, he kept munching on what looked the last of his burgers, all the while talking with his mouth full; Austria winced in disgust and promptly looked away, appalled at such behaviour.

"Really, will you speak a bit louder? I can barely hear you!" America was talking to nothingness, and Hungary frowned… she'd thought only England had problems with talking with 'invisible friends', not America… was that a good or a bad th–

Was that a _floating_ bear?

Rubbing her eyes in shock, Hungary leaned forwards, grabbing the glove of the armature that was hiding her; yes, it was a floating white bear, and by its dimensions it was probably a cub.

It didn't look like he was replying to America, at least –its lips were not moving– but America was talking to him so…

Confusing. And vaguely intriguing, but mostly confusing. And Hungary had no time to ponder about flying bears. If they followed America, they'd find where Italy was hidden, and then…

"Hungary, get out of here, please," Austria whispered, grabbing Hungary's wrist and waiting for America and the floating bear to disappear down the corridor before speaking. "I will follow America to see where he is directed to, and you shall wait for Germany to arrive, leading him through the secret passage we've found".

"What? No way I am leaving you to go on alone, Austria! I said I'd protect you!"

"That is my decision, please, Hungary. I wish you to be safe, and it will be not much of a problem if I get caught by the Allies. But I would not allow myself any peace of mind if I knew you were exposed to even more danger than you are now…"

Hungary, touched by Austria's worried tone, relented. "I know you will be careful, but please do not let yourself be caught…"

"I won't do anything until I see you return with the back up," Austria assured her, nodding.

Not convinced but knowing Austria would not back down, Hungary nodded and ran down the corridor.

Austria watched her go then straightened his back, patted his clothes to remove speckles of dust from them, and adjusted the cloth around his throat.

That done, he hurried down the corridor, trying to look dignified as he did so.

He hoped the remaining members of the Axis Powers would arrive soon.

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**SOY:** Thank you everybody for your support to me and this story! Until next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

**SOY:** once, again, I'm really happy at how liked this fic is :) thank you so much, everyone! And now, another chapter, this time something does happen ;) Sorry if i haven't replied to reviews yet, I've had some bad connection and busy RL. I'll do it ASAP, I promise!

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Rating**: K+.

**Warnings:** mostly fluffiness, some hints at GerIta, some crack.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Hetalia.

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Magic Trick**

**Chapter 07**

Austria had been worried about Italy.

Ever since knowing Italy had been kidnapped by France, the worry had nagged him from the inside.

He usually didn't show it, because the Italian Nation granted to his nerves, but he did care for him, as he'd been his caretaker for a long while, and nobody could spend so much time with Italy and _not_ end up fond of him.

So, Austria really had been worried for Italy's wellbeing, thus why he'd agreed to get into England's house despite being unsure whether it'd be safe to do so, and why he had decided to send Hungary out and be the one to follow America and the floating bear.

He'd expected to see Italy reduced to cleaning, if nothing else, or at least questioned, even though he had no memories of the present.

He had expected to see something worrisome, just like Hungary had thought (although he was sure her thoughts had been slightly different, and he didn't really want to _know_, either), so when he had finally reached the main room, he took a deep breath and peeked in…

And _of course_ he'd been deeply wrong.

"Say aaaah, Ita~"

"Aaaah~"

The Allies were all surrounding Italy, who was sitting in Russia's lap, and they were taking turns in feeding him.

Italy seemed to bask in all the attention, smiling and waving his little arms in the air as China offered him another bite of noodles.

"Mmmh~ it's good, brother China~"

"My food is always good, aru!"

"Don't monopolize his time, you git! Ita has yet to taste my scones!"

"Your scones would only make him get a stomach ache, _Angleterre_, don't be stupid!" France sniffled and pushed China out of the way, pressing one kiss on Italy's forehead. "I wouldn't want Ita to feel sick, afterwards…"

Italy wiped a bit of food away from his chin and giggled, pressing a finger where France had kissed him, clearly happy.

If not for the sheer weirdness of it, the sight would have been overly cute.

The only ones who were into participating into the whole feeding thing were America and the floating bear.

America was actually pouting and sulking, sitting at a corner of the table and tapping his fingers on its surface, glaring at the group of otherwise occupied Allies. "Why are they fussing over that kid? I'm the hero, I should be the one having all their attention!"

"Ah… America, but he's really cute…"

"Shut it, Canada".

Italy, who had been munching on his noodles, thinking that it was a really yummy food, though not as yummy as pasta, noticed the two Nations on the side and wriggled out of Russia's hold, swallowing the noodles and bouncing towards them.

"Uwa~ Mr. Bear looks so fluffy~" Italy looked up at the 'floating' bear (who was, obviously, been held by Canada) and stretched his arms to try and touch one of the animal's paws. "Mr. Bear, can I pet you?"

The bear looked down, and Italy glanced up at Canada, almost shyly. "Mister, can I play with your bear?"

Canada flushed as he stared down at Italy's wide eyes, and gently lowered Kumajirou down. The bear sniffled Italy's hair, making him giggle, then turned around, completely disinterested in the kid… until Italy started petting him.

Italy gently rubbed Kumajirou's head and ears, wrapping his arms around the bear's neck and holding him close, smiling in happiness when Kumajirou nuzzled him in the face. "Ve~ fluffy!"

Canada smiled at them, kneeling and also petting Kumajirou together with Italy, while China and England, feeling rejected, sat at the table and pouted towards America, who pouted back at them.

"I don't know what's so good with him," he pouted, glaring at Italy. "He's just a stupid kid!"

Instantly, a pair of big, brown eyes looked up and Italy stepped towards him, shyly grabbing the edge of America's shirt and tugging at it.

"Mister…? Y–you don't like me?"

America stared down, pouting. "Well, I…"

Italy's eyes started filling up with tears, shocking America, who backed away from him. "Uh… ah…"

"I'm… s–sorry…" rubbing the tears away, Italy backed away from America, ready to run into Russia's arms to be hugged, but America stood up instantly, feeling a wave of guilt crash through him.

What kind of hero was he, having a child cry because of him? That was not something to be proud of! Especially not a cute child like this one!

"Don't cry! Come on, let's play together!"

"V–ve?" still teary eyed, Italy hesitantly glanced up at him. "Y–you don't hate me?"

"Of course not!" Grabbing Italy, America placed him on his shoulders and held him by his legs. "Airplane! Hahaha~"

That said, he started running around the room, with Italy stretching his little arms wide and laughing happily.

"Don't run that fast, you git! You might hurt him!"

"I'm Italy's hero too, England! I won't hurt him!"

"I said _stop_!"

Well, America was clearly having fun himself, because as England started chasing him around the room, he just laughed and ran faster, with Italy bouncing on his shoulders and screaming in joy.

Austria pressed his back against the wall, a small smile on his lips.

As he'd thought, there was no one who could be able to resist Italy's cuteness. Especially not someone like America.

Now, the problem was another, though –by what it looked like, the Allies would not want to give up on Italy anytime soon… which was going to be unsettling. Italy belonged to the Axis, and not just that, but he had to go back to his adult age.

If England decided to keep him like that, it wouldn't be right for Italy as a Nation… what about his people? What about Italy as a person, stuck in a time that was not his own, with memories that didn't match…?

Maybe to the Allies these things didn't even come to mind, but Austria couldn't stop wondering whether things would get worse if they allowed Italy to stay like that too much.

He peered inside the room again.

America was currently sprawled on the floor and on top of England, with Italy still on his back, bouncing and giggling; England was muttering half curses up at the American Nation, mindful of what he said because Russia had moved closer, and was smiling threateningly down at him to prevent anything too bad from being uttered by him.

Still sitting at the table, china was snickering at the sight, yelling encouragements to all of them, while Canada was clutching Kumajirou at his chest, mildly amused as well.

Italy never had problems fitting everywhere, but he seemed to enjoy their company too much, and Austria was even more afraid now that if given the choice, he'd stay with them instead of coming back with the Axis.

Still, he had to hope for the best.

"Austria!"

Turning around, startled, Austria readied himself to face an enemy, but relaxed when he realised that he had not been found out, and nodded in welcome at Germany and the rest of the rescue team.

"Italy is in there," he whispered, pointing towards the room. "There's the whole Allied group with him, though…" he then noticed Spain and Romano present as well, and his eyebrows arched in surprise. "Spain, it is a surprise to see you here…"

"Oi, Austria, I could never leave cute Ita in the hands of the enemy~!"

"Stop wasting time! Where is my brother! Potato Bastard, go in and help him!"

"We can't just go in," Germany replied calmly, keeping his tone low and wondering why he'd allowed so many idiots to tag along. "It would mean facing the whole lot of the Allies to get Italy back, and…"

"Then do it! Didn't you promise to protect Veneziano? Then go there and help him, you bastard!"

"Right now, Italy does not seem to be in danger," Austria piped in, placing one hand on Romano's shoulder and trying to calm him down. South Italy glared at him, but shut up. "The Allies are treating him well, don't worry. Let's form a plan now".

Hungary, who had just peeked in the room to see what the fuss was all about, retreated with a disappointed pout. "Ah, Austria is right… they are just playing with him…"

"D–don't sound so disappointed!" Prussia growled, also peeking into the room. "Ah, Ita~ you should play with me, not with them!"

"Shut up!" Germany's growl managed to get the attention of the group on him. "We need to get the Allies to leave so we can grab Italy and England. Any suggestions?"

"We could offer a distraction," Hungary stated, pushing her sleeves up to her elbows. "We will make them concentrate on us, so Germany will get Italy and leave".

"No way I'm going to let Germany get my brother!" Romano grunted, glaring at the German Nation and shrugging Spain's arm around his shoulder. "I'll be going there!"

"That is not a good idea, Romanito~" the Spaniard commented, smiling as usual. "If Ita does not remember his present, he will not expect you to be so big, right? It has to be someone like Germany to pick him up, otherwise he might get scared…"

"Spain has a point here," Hungary advised. "Romano, you will come with me, we'll distract the Allies together!"

"W–what? B–but they're scary! Hiii!" glancing at the barely opened door, Romano backed away, frightened. "S–stupid brother… g–getting caught up in this stuff…"

"You will do it, Romanito! You run away faster than anybody else!" Spain reassured him, making Romano grunt at him in anger.

Germany took a deep breath.

"Japan, Hungary, Austria, Romano, you will attract their attention on you, so _bruder_, Spain and I will be able to use this distraction to get Italy. Do not get yourself in a dire situation and abort the mission if you find yourself losing. We don't want any casualties!"

"Do not worry, Germany–san, we shall be stealthy!" Japan assured, nodding in determination. He was not going to fail his mission.

Hungary stomped to the door, about to show her face and have them chase her, but Austria hurried over, pressing one hand on her shoulder, and stopped her. With a clearly embarrassed air, he cleared his throat. "Allow me, please," he stated. "I have a small unresolved matter with France that I shall use this opportunity to fix".

With that, he pushed the door wide.

"Hide!" Germany ordered, pushing his brother and Spain to the side.

On the inside, the Five Allied Nations (ah, yes, and Canada) and Italy turned their attention to Austria, now standing in front of them, glaring at France.

"We're under attack!" England pushed America off of him and glared at the door, placing himself between little Italy and Austria.

"The Axis dared showing up here, aru?"

Austria cleared his throat, feeling a familiar thrill (from his past as a fighter) rush through him as he straightened his back, keeping his attention solely on the only Nation to blame about Italy's kidnapping.

"I am here to get back Italy!" Austria stated, eyes narrowed in anger and determination. "And also my photos".

Whereas his declaration of wanting to take Italy back didn't surprise anyone, what he added after a moment surely did.

The remaining Nations, both allies and enemies of Austria, looked at him in confusion.

'_What photos?'_

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**SOY:** once again, see you next chapter. Now we're really close to the end! Two more chapters and then it's completed… please comment if you've liked it enough to!


	8. Chapter 8

**SOY:** I'm sorry for not updating during the Christmas holidays, but I was kind of busy, then I had exams, and real life has been quite of a bitch with me. Please accept my apologies, and here it is, a new chapter!

As a side question… how freaked out would you be about me posting a Fairly OddParents fic? (no yaoi there, though. It'd be a family shot.)

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Rating**: K+.

**Warnings:** mostly fluffiness, some hints at GerIta, some crack.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Hetalia.

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Magic Trick**

**Chapter 08**

Little Italy was having fun.

The new friends he'd met were all nice, and had given him yummy food, too (not pasta, but it was ok because it was still yummy), and Brother America The Hero was nice and funny, and had even played airplane with him!

Not that Italy knew what an airplane was. But Brother America The Hero had balanced him over his shoulders, and Italy had just pushed his arms wide and that was apparently how you played it… so maybe an airplane was a bird…?

Still, he was having fun. They were nice and they liked him… yet Italy couldn't help but worry about Austria; France had stated he'd conquered Italy from him, did it mean Austria was hurt? Was he ok?

Maybe Austria hadn't been too nice to him, yelling if he couldn't clean as quickly as he should, not allowing him to eat outside his meals, but Austria was Italy's caretaker, and Italy respected and cared for him still.

The moment the door of the room was pushed open and Austria had appeared there (looking fine and not hurt), glaring at France and stating his purpose, Italy had wriggled out of China's hold and had tried to get close to the Austrian musician.

He was ok. He looked fine and healthy!

Ignoring England placing himself between Austria and Italy, the little Nation looked up, eyes filling with relieved tears.

"V–ve~ Austria~ so you're feeling well!"

He was so happy!

On his own, France didn't look too phased with Austria's declaration. "The photos are mine," he muttered, expression momentarily shifting to a lecherous one. "Besides, as you see, little Italy is perfectly fine and happy with us".

Austria ignored him, deeming France useless at the present moment, and scoffed.

"Italy, leave this group of… maniacs… and come back with me," he murmured gently, holding out his hand for the little kid to take.

"B–but… brother France said he won me from you…" blinking in confusion, puffing out his cheeks and frowning, Italy looked at France, who was now denying having ever taken any photo of Austria while naked or in a state of undress. "Y–you lied to me?"

France's face turned vaguely violet. "N–not lied per se, my little Italy… I did conquer you, after all, so you do belong to me now…"

England frowned, suddenly looking angered. "Hey, hey, frog, don't be too hasty. Italy here isn't _your_ belonging. If anything, I would gladly take this opportunity to claim him as my territory! I will take him and raise him for good!"

Italy frowned and looked up at the scary bushy–brows Nation. he was being fought for… again?

"Oh, no, Italy wants to be one with _me_, _da_?" Russia piped in, smiling in happiness as he clutched the pipe he'd extracted from God–knows–where. He'd suddenly gotten closer.

"V–ve…"

China cracked his knuckles. "Italy should come with me, aru! I will cook yummy food every day, and I will show you my house!"

Italy wasn't really sure what was happening, but he felt it was _not_ good. And he was getting scared. Were they all fighting over him? Was it just like when he was still a free colony? He didn't like it at all…

Nations fighting meant they wanted to be powerful, and it meant they would then fall like Grandpa Rome had, and then… and then…

"D–don't fight… p–please…" pouting, Italy grabbed the hem of his dress, unable to stop the tears from welling up into his eyes. Lips trembling, he started crying, sobbing and sniffling and looking utterly miserable.

"See what you did? You made little Ita cry!" America glared at the surrounding Nations, feeling rightfully protective over his future little brother (and future sidekick).

"This is not the time to worry about it! Get him, America!" England pointed at Austria, who was already retreating.

America stopped, glaring at England. "When did you become my boss, England?"

France rolled his eyes and strolled towards Austria –he would be enough to get rid of the Austrian Nation– and a second later, he was slammed against the wall by the force of a frying pan colliding with his face.

"Stay away from Austria, you pervert!" _'And whatever photos you took of him… will become mine!'_

Hungary stood up to her full height, pointing her weapon towards a woozy France.

Her moment of glory lasted only a few seconds, because China was already running at her with his wok ready to strike, and the two Nations ended up exchanging swings and hits with their pans.

The door was pushed open once again, and Prussia stomped into the room, smirking before his eyes fell on Russia.

"Oi, Russia! Come and show the Awesome Me what you've got!"

"Haha~ Prussia wants to play, _da_?"

With China and Russia both busy with their own opponents, and France sprawled on the floor, with Austria pressing his foot on his chest so he wouldn't stand up, America and England were the only ones left that could pose a threat to the rescue team.

Romano was pushed into the room by the double effort of Germany and Spain, and he quickly blanched at the sight of the two Allied nations.

"C–chigi~ I'm surrendering! I'm surrendering!" he cried, backing away from the two and clawing at the wall with his nails. "Anything as long as I don't eat the horrible food of England's!"

England suffered damage and slumped on the ground, depressed at once again having his culinary skills insulted, America laughing hard at him.

Spain smirked and cracked his knuckles. He might not have anything to do with the war, but if this was simply a rescue mission of its own, he _did_ have some unresolved matters with England that dated way back in the past.

"_Hola_, England!" expression darkening, Spain advanced towards England, who stood back up and glared at him, cocky smirk back in place.

"You truly believe you will defeat me, Spain?"

America blinked, not really understanding what was going on, but turned towards England and Spain, completely forgetting about Italy and laughing as he stared at the two Nations showing off.

Romano, noticing that nobody was even looking at him, relaxed considerably, and turned to the door, grunting in distaste. "P–potato bastard, _now_!"

Germany nodded and entered the room, checking his allies and how they were doing; Hungary and China appeared to be evenly matched, Prussia was taunting and avoiding Russia coming at him, and Spain was keeping both America and England's attention to him.

Perfect.

He nodded at Romano, who glared at him and looked away, then he moved to a sniffling Italy.

"Oi, Italy, we're here to get you," he stated.

Italy had been trying hard to stop crying, and find a way to make everybody stop fighting, but then someone towered above him, and looking up he found himself face to face with the scary guy he'd run away from before.

Which wasn't exactly something he'd expected.

Italy yelped loudly and backed away from him, still crying copiously, now out of shock.

"V–ve~"

"I–Italy, don't cry!" Germany stepped forwards again. They had to get out from there as soon as possible, so it was better to ignore Italy's fear of him until they were out. Then, he'd allow himself to feel properly hurt once again, but now… "Now, come–"

A hand pressed on his wrist, stopping him.

"Haha, you better get away from Ita now!"

Germany glared up, meeting America's smirk, and growled. "Let me go," he ordered, glaring at the American Nation with disdain. "Italy will come back with us!"

America slowly shook his head. The kid was funny and everybody liked him, and the Allies had actually gotten along well with him present… he was definitely going to keep him!

Maybe he could make him a colony of America in Europe, too!

America shoved Germany away, easily overpowering him, and smiled at a crying Italy. "Don't worry, I'll keep him away from you".

Italy sniffled, unsure on just about everything.

"Italy belongs with me!" Germany stated, angered at America's appearance. Behind him, Romano tried to be inconspicuous and hide behind a chair, not wanting America to turn towards him.

"I don't think so, Germany! He clearly prefers to stay here!"

Italy sniffled and wiped his eyes.

He liked the new people, but he also liked Austria and Hungary and Japan and Spain and Prussia. He didn't know why they were standing on opposite sides, but that didn't change the fact that Italy didn't know what to do.

And this Germany, who both Japan and France had defended… he was scary and yet why did he want to take him back?

"This is not the real Italy, can't you understand?" Germany's cheeks reddened slightly as he looked at the little kid that was his best friend. "You can't keep him like that. He needs to turn back to his real age. No matter how cute he looks like this, it is not Italy".

America hesitantly looked down at Italy, who was not able to understand what the scary man was saying. He _was_ Italy, after all.

"Italy… Italy is loud. He's annoying. He's scared of fighting and he keeps messing up my kitchen to cook pasta, pasta, and only pasta–" Germany sighed, pressing one hand on his forehead. "He clings to me constantly, he runs around naked because he forgets to wear clothes after siesta. He's mostly useless, flirts with girls all the time, running away from training…"

America blinked, unsure of where this was going.

Germany coughed and straightened up. "But that Italy looks at me with warmth and happiness, and he is not scared of me. He demands hugs and kisses and he respects me, even if he hates my wurst. For that Italy I'm willing to fight and I don't mind facing all of you to get him back".

By the end of his speech, Germany's face had turned a bright red, and America was staring at him, clearly not getting it.

Italy blinked, unable to look away from the scary guy. He really didn't understand, but Germany's words, the embarrassment, the way he looked at him…

Familiar, but he was so big… there again, Austria was big, too, and Prussia, and Hungary, and… was it _possible_ that…

Slowly, Italy took a hesitant step towards Germany, stretching one hand to brush against the older Nation's knee. "I–is that you, Hol–"

"Retreat, Germany!"

England suddenly appeared in front of Germany, holding his Britannia Angel's wand against him, and smirked. Glancing to the side, Germany found Spain being helped up by Romano, and cursed.

"I'm taking Italy back with me!"

England shook his head, clearly pleased with himself. He lifted the wand into the air, knowing he had the upper hand, spell already spilling from his lips–

"Stop!"

England faltered.

Standing in front of Germany, arms open wide, and glaring up at England, was little Italy.

"I won't let you hurt Mr. Germany!" he yelled out, puffing his cheeks.

Germany looked down in shock. "I–Italy?"

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**SOY:** the next chapter will be the last. It has been a funny ride, but it's almost complete now. ^^ thank you, everybody! See you soon with the last chap!


	9. Chapter 9

**SOY:** so this is the last chapter! It has been a long journey up to this point, but I'm really happy about how it turned out. Thank you, everybody! I hope this won't seem too bad to you!

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Rating**: K+.

**Warnings:** mostly fluffiness, some hints at GerIta, some crack.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Hetalia.

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**Magic Trick**

**Chapter 09**

Standing in front of Germany, his little arms stretched wide, little Italy glared up at England, eyes blazing in fury.

"I won't let you hurt Mr. Germany!" he yelled out, puffing his cheeks in determination.

Germany looked down in shock. "I–Italy?"

The Nations in the room stopped their bitching and turned in surprise towards the shrunken Italy, surprised at his outburst.

Even Japan, who had been observing everything from his spot close to the door, ready to intervene if anything went wrong, momentarily shifted his attention to little Italy (inwardly stomping down on his desire to point and mutter 'moe' over and over again).

The ones who were least expecting Italy to stand up for Germany were, for obvious reasons, Germany himself and America; the latter had stepped up to the place of protective older (heroic) brother, and seeing his future little brother–colony–sidekick stand up to protect the enemy really put him off.

"Italy, move aside and let the hero do his job!"

Looking up with defiance, Italy shook his head.

"I won't let you hurt him, brother America! If you are a hero for real, then you can't hurt people!"

America scratched his chin, hesitating for a split moment. "But Ita, he's the enemy here… he came here to kidnap you…"

"D–don't fight over me… p–please…" big brown eyes suddenly filled with tears, and both America and England backed away from the little kid, feeling suddenly guilty.

"Ita…" America pouted, not sure about what to say, and England looked to the side, biting his lower lip.

"I… I want to… go back with him, v–ve~" Italy shyly peered up at Germany, who was still looking utterly confused, and flushed crimson, his little heart racing in his chest.

The more he stared up at the Nation called Germany, the more he could point out the small details that made him resemble more and more his Holy Roman Empire, and… and…

"I'd like to go back with him and Austria and Hungary and Mr. Japan and…" hesitating, Italy fidgeted a bit. "It was nice to be with you but now I want to go back home… with them…"

"I–Italy…" Germany was feeling oddly touched.

He'd thought that this little Italy was just afraid of him, yet now this same Italy was standing in front of him, trying to 'protect him' from America. It was oddly touching.

A small smile graced Germany's lips –it looked like this little Italy was really not _that_ different from the one he knew…

The Allied Powers grouped together behind England and America, facing Germany, and the rest of the Rescue Team moved to back the German Nation instead, for a moment still with a tearing up Italy between them.

And it was _then_ that England's spell vanished.

There was a loud popping noise and the room was suddenly filled with smoke.

Germany coughed and instantly backed away in an attempt to avoid the cloud, but at the same time, his heart increased its speed when he realised what that meant.

He heard England cursing somewhere in front of him, and Romano joining in with a string of curses of his own somewhere in the back, but he kept his calm.

Tentatively, he cleared his throat. "Italy? Can you hear me?"

There was a moment of silence, then–

"Germany!"

Something hit him on the chest, arms wrapping around his midsection, sending him sprawled on the ground with a heavy weight on top of him; Germany's back collided painfully with the floor, both arms coming to circle the offending weight, knowing already what it was –or better then, _who_ it was.

"Italy! Let go of me this instant!" he yelled, voice rough and commanding, feigning annoyance, but inside Germany was actually secretly pleased. Everything was back to how it should be.

A loud sniffle.

"B–but Germany~ I just had this horrible nightmare where I was lost and I couldn't find myself, and it was dark and scary and I was calling your name, and then I opened my eyes and there was so much smoke, but then you were calling my name!"

Germany shook his head, relieved when the cloud of smoke finally vanished and he was able to meet Italy's big eyes, filled with relieved tears.

"Italy, _why_ are you crying…"

Letting go of the other Nation's waist, Italy quickly moved up and pecked a kiss on Germany's cheek, his teary expression melting into a warm, happy smile. "I'm glad Germany came to save me~"

Turning crimson, Germany looked away, suddenly overcome by embarrassment. "Ah… I…"

"Awww, what? He's big now…" America looked down at Italy lavishing Germany with hugs and kisses and pouted dejectedly. Bye bye to his sidekick–brother–colony!

"W–whaaa! Germany~ the Allies! Hiiii!" Italy scrambled up on his feet and tugged Germany up as well, hiding behind him and demanding instant protection, not really knowing what the hell was going on but not liking it all the same.

Germany straightened his back and smirked smugly at the American Nation and at the other Allies, all of them looking equally disappointed.

"As you see, it's better as it is. We will retreat and you will never attempt something like that _ever_ again!"

England stared at Italy with a grimace, then he felt a ghostly touch on his shoulder and he almost freaked out before realising that it was Canada, who had been forgotten during the whole fight between Allies and Rescue Team.

"C–Canada!"

"It was just a failure… please just let them go," _'and end this useless banter once for all… even though Italy as a kid could actually see me…'_

Looking to the side, unwilling to admit defeat, England slowly hunched his shoulders and grunted what could pass for agreement; after a second he stomped away, muttering something about stupid kids under his breath.

Not knowing what to do all of sudden, China and Russia glanced at each other and promptly turned around and wandered away, having lost any interest in the whole situation now that Italy was back to his actual age and they couldn't coddle him anymore.

Feeling stupid but unwilling to admit it with himself, America scratched the back of his head, unsure whether to let it go or not; Canada let out a sigh and grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the room as well.

"I liked little Italy, though…" America muttered as he allowed his brother to tug him away

The Nations remaining in the room glanced at each other, suddenly at loss with such an anticlimactic ending, then the silence between them was broken by Spain's wail.

"Ah, my cute Ita is back to his own age~ I don't know whether to be sad or not…"

"S–shut up, you bastard! J–just thank God that England didn't mess you up too much!"

"Aww, but Romanito, you know I can take care of that stuck up Brit…"

Hungary smiled and brushed away the dirt from her skirt, feeling satisfied with herself after all, and shared a look with an equally pleased Austria. Things were back to normality, it seemed… "Ah, but… Ita…"

Japan shifted a bit and Hungary glanced at him, attention attracted by his small movement. The two stared at each other again, sharing a mutual disappointment similar to that of Spain.

'_I can't believe the spell was broken so soon… I had hoped to dress little Ita with all those cute outfits…'_

'_It was surely a great disappointment, and it is all the Allied Powers' fault…'_

A small pause, then Japan extracted the edge of a camera from his jacket. Hungary's eyes glinted.

'_But at least, we are not left empty–handed…'_

'_Ah, Japan, you surely know how to make a girl happy…'_

Austria shivered as he watched Hungary's eyes turn dreamy, and forced himself to look away. He _didn't_ want to know.

"Let's go now, before they decide to come back!" Germany grabbed Italy's wrist and tugged him, leading the group out of England's house from the main entrance.

Japan politely excused himself, parting from them as soon as they got away from the enemy territories in a haste to go back home –mumbling something about photos– and he left with a bow and a smile to Italy.

Austria and Hungary politely declined Germany's offer to accompany them back to their houses, and Spain was pushed away by a fierce, angry Romano muttering curses at him, and even Prussia disappeared, unsure whether to be happy that his cute Ita was back to his rightful age or to be sad at seeing cute little Ita gone again.

In the end, only Germany and Italy were left walking towards Germany's house, with the blond Nation still holding tightly Italy's wrist, almost in reassurance at the other's presence.

Italy was not sure what had happened –he didn't remember falling asleep, nor did he remember going at England's house– but Germany had been there, and that was enough for him. Germany was always there to help him and protect him.

"Ve~ Germany will always come to help me if I'm in danger, right? Even in my dreams~"

Germany's entire face turned crimson, even his ears, and Italy giggled, finding the sight cute while the other Nation spluttered something unintelligible.

After a moment of silence, Germany cleared his throat.

"W–well, I am sure that if I ever… find myself in a pinch, you will be the one to come and help me, right, Italy?"

Italy turned his bright smile at his friend and gently held the other Nation's hand into his own. "I am weak and I'm scared of fighting, but if Germany needs me, I will try to gather all my courage to help him, if he accepts what little help I can offer!"

Germany found himself smiling as well, remembering the small, weak little Italy standing in front of him with his little, chubby arms stretched wide.

"Yes, of course," he murmured.

Italy was taken aback –he'd expected Germany to use this opportunity to rant on how Italy would never be helpful unless he trained, and yet…

Italy felt his cheeks grow warm all of sudden as his heart sped up, a reaction he didn't quite understand.

Smiling like that and looking at him with something akin to warmth… it made Germany look familiar, but in a way Italy could not explain.

Who…

"Come on, Italy! There's still enough time to train until supper!"

He shook himself out of his thoughts and brought his (wrong) hand up to his forehead. "Yessir!"

Germany forced his smile down and led the Italian Nation to his house. Maybe he would allow Italy to cook pasta for dinner, after all.

…–…–…–…

The Allied Powers hesitantly glanced at each other, sitting at the same table with a bunch of war plans scattered in front of them.

Nobody spoke, not even to comment on how stupid it would be to follow America's plan, that included dressing up as seals and a lot of spray paint.

Even England looked vaguely gloomy, which was… uh, well, which was rather normal in most circumstances, but usually included him drunk or with a hangover.

"Uh… I miss the little kid, aru…"

China slumped down with his cheek on the table, and pouted. He meant little Italy, of course, but part of him was thinking about another little kid that he'd lost a lot of years before.

"He was little and lively and wanted to become one with me…" Russia was still smiling, but the dark, violet aura swirling around him spoke volumes of his real mood.

"Come on, you can't be so depressed for such a trivial thing!" America slammed his hand on the table, making China jump and glare at him. "If you want, we can play the airplane together! Hahaha~"

China, England, France and Russia glanced at each other, all of them with the same, identical mental image passing through their heads –America holding each of them up in the air, laughing like idiots…

England's mental image then spiralled downwards in a territory best not spoken during the day (or with an audience not yet of legal age), and allowed himself a moment to be ashamed of his own thoughts before collecting himself again.

"Oh, definitely no, aru!"

"Not unless America likes to wear red and wants to join Mother Russia, _da_?"

"Big Brother France has a special plane you can play with, Ameriq–"

"Shut up, you lecherous pervert!"

"Wasn't that thought the same as what you were dreaming moments ago, _Angleterre_?"

As the banter digressed into a full–out war between England and France, with America standing on the side and cheering now for one, now for the other, and China retired in the kitchen to cook some more while Russia made himself comfortable on his seat, feeling a bit melancholic, the only one left to think about the whole situation's fiasco was Canada.

Not that he was doing it, though.

After all he was too busy recriminating how Russia needed to just stop sitting on him. it wasn't that nice.

Life continued onwards, England's little magic trick was soon forgotten… and maybe it was better that way.

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

**SOY:** once again, a big thank you to all the people who read and reviewed this fic of mine. Thank you so very much!


End file.
